It is March 2018: What Fantasy book are you reading?

[Darth Tater]

After having read and thoroughly enjoyed Naomi Novik's "Uprooted", I started her Temeraire series and find it also very nice - positive, fun, feel-good reading, which made it perfect for a week of holiday reading. Am now on book 5.

I also started Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Sower" (Book 1 of "Earthseed") but that is a lot harder to stomach, so I will likely get back to it after Temeraire.

I definitely plan to read Uprooted. I planned to read the Temeraire series but took it off my list Because a highly significant number of people said that it went down in quality as it progressed. I read a few pages and thought I might like it. It is very encouraging that you are giving it a positive review as I put a lot more stock in what people here say as opposed to the masses. Is this series complete?

 

[Cyphon]

Just finished The Second Siege by Henry H. Neff which is book 2 of The Tapestry series.

Early on I didn't think the book was quite as good as the first but at a certain point things really started to pick up and by the end I think it might edge out the first. I am not sure on spoilers because these books aren't exactly new and I am not sure I am inspiring any new readers to them here but just incase I will talk about the thinks that changed my outlook on this book by the end and put them in tags.

Spoiler

1. The bad guys win. This isn't the first book it has happened but it does seem to be the earliest in a series that the bad guys just flat out completely won. I know in series like this bad guys get victories along the way and then in the end complete their plans only to be foiled by the good guys but not this time. They won a decisive victory and have taken over the world. Love it. Adds a different approach to the rest of the series and despite having read this series multiple times I am hazy on what is upcoming.

2. There is some good despair in this book. At this point I am starting to sound crazy because I am happy the bad guys won and that people are sad but that isn't my intention. What I mean is, it is nice that everything isn't all neat and tidy and significant things actually happen to the good guys. The MC finds his long lost mother only to find out that she has aged quite a bit and only gets very limited time with her before she passes away. Sad stuff. And again, the bad guys won so a lot of doom and gloom from that as well.

3. Some good twists in this one. The MC discovering his mother, also discovering she was part of the magic world, finding out his dad wasn't his biological, and a few other things along the way.

One thing I didn't like that bothered me some is the fact that 2 or 3 times in this book the main villain had the MC's exactly where he wanted them and just lets them walk. I understand villain arrogance and what not but man, the MC's should have been dead already.

8-8.5/10

 

[GreyMouser]

After struggling to finish the last 4 or 5 books I've started I finished Kings of the Wylde in less than a week. I laughed, I cried and I laughed some more. So many great characters, excellent world building, lore and tons of creatures. Hated for this one to end.

Easily a 10/10.

 

[Derk of Derkholm]

I definitely plan to read Uprooted. I planned to read the Temeraire series but took it off my list Because a highly significant number of people said that it went down in quality as it progressed. I read a few pages and thought I might like it. It is very encouraging that you are giving it a positive review as I put a lot more stock in what people here say as opposed to the masses. Is this series complete?

I understand it is complete now with 9 books. If you have a kindle, the first 3 are available as omnibus edition, download the sample to see if you like it. (that was that made me read it)

I am currently on book 5 and understand if people say the quality is going down ... still keeps me up until 2 a.m. although I am already severely sleep deprived!

Snap ... wanted to re-check and read the synopsis of book 9 on Amazon, major spoilers for the story just by reading that.

 

[Darth Tater]

I understand it is complete now with 9 books. If you have a kindle, the first 3 are available as omnibus edition, download the sample to see if you like it. (that was that made me read it)

I am currently on book 5 and understand if people say the quality is going down ... still keeps me up until 2 a.m. although I am already severely sleep deprived!

Snap ... wanted to re-check and read the synopsis of book 9 on Amazon, major spoilers for the story just by reading that.

OK. It’s back on my TBR. Sorry about the spoilers.

 

[Darth Tater]

Inferno by Dante Alighieri. I THINK it’s fantasy so I posted here.

I’ve been meaning to read it for a while. So I finally did. I know this is one of the greatest works ever and that there are still reverberations to this day (scared the shit out of people into Christianity and into attending and supporting the church Also gave many Christians today their vision of hell). I can appreciate its influences. But I only thought it was OK. Probably hundreds of years ago I would feel different.

I guess the translation was good but I was still lost at times. A lot of people and events were listed but my lackluster of knowledge of Italian history is negligible. a lot of the levels and many of the punishments seemed backward. Basically rape and murder wasn’t considered nearly as bad as any crime against the church. I was bored with it and eager for it to end. So I’m not criticizing the work. It just didn’t interest me and I disagreed with too much.

 

[Silvion Night]

Inferno by Dante Alighieri. I THINK it’s fantasy so I posted here.

I’ve been meaning to read it for a while. So I finally did. I know this is one of the greatest works ever and that there are still reverberations to this day (scared the shit out of people into Christianity and into attending and supporting the church Also gave many Christians today their vision of hell). I can appreciate its influences. But I only thought it was OK. Probably hundreds of years ago I would feel different.

I guess the translation was good but I was still lost at times. A lot of people and events were listed but my lackluster of knowledge of Italian history is negligible. a lot of the levels and many of the punishments seemed backward. Basically rape and murder wasn’t considered nearly as bad as any crime against the church. I was bored with it and eager for it to end. So I’m not criticizing the work. It just didn’t interest me and I disagreed with too much.

I'm sure @GiovanniDeFeo can tell you lots about it. he original work was written in carefully measured stanza's that were mathematically the same length. It's an amazing piece of art, that unfortunately can only be really appreciated in it's original form.

 

[Darth Tater]

I'm sure @GiovanniDeFeo can tell you lots about it. he original work was written in carefully measured stanza's that were mathematically the same length. It's an amazing piece of art, that unfortunately can only be really appreciated in it's original form.

It is. He wrote it to honor his childhood unrequited love named Beatrice who had had died. She appears as an angel inva cameo. He himself died the day after completing it. Arguably, one of the greatest works of all time.

 

[Darth Tater]

Began The War Of The Flowers. Tad Williams is my second favorite fantasy author. The words seem to flow. Memory Sorrow And Thorn and Shadowmarch were among the top of my favorite epic series ever. His short story collection was really good too. I didn’t read past the first book of his Otherland urban fantasy series.

So believing this to be an urban fantasy (they generally aren’t my favorites anyhow) I didn’t know what to expect. But it appears to also be an adukt dark fairy tale and is mysterious to boot. Very early but loving it!

 

[Alucard]

I'm on a Dresden kick. Started White Night yesterday.
I'm also reading Bridge of Birds. It's still early, but I don't know. What I've read so far is written in a weird way. I don't like this kind of writing style. Reminds me of Michael Swanwick's Chasing Phoenix. Wasn't wowed by that either.

But there's a lot more to go, maybe the story is good and I change my mind.

 

[GiovanniDeFeo]

I'm sure @GiovanniDeFeo can tell you lots about it. he original work was written in carefully measured stanza's that were mathematically the same length. It's an amazing piece of art, that unfortunately can only be really appreciated in it's original form.

Hey thanks!
Well, I don't think it can be appreciated only in its original form... it would be saying like Homer can only be read in ancient greek.
That is appreciation at its best is of course in Italian, and that's what I always said to my pupils, that they should consider themselves lucky because they could read it in the original...

But Dante's talents, like Shapespeare's, were not just in versification. He has an amazing talent for invention too, and dramatization. Sometimes he takes an event, a tragedy, and gives it to you in just a single line, a single act, all the rest compressed it in. And though the scope of his work is awe-inspiring, every single stanza is incredibly (i.e. apparently) simple... So, I would say, scout for a good English version and read it!
Possibly with Dore's illustrations. It's quite something!

G.

 

[GiovanniDeFeo]

Inferno by Dante Alighieri. I THINK it’s fantasy so I posted here.

I’ve been meaning to read it for a while. So I finally did. I know this is one of the greatest works ever and that there are still reverberations to this day (scared the shit out of people into Christianity and into attending and supporting the church Also gave many Christians today their vision of hell). I can appreciate its influences. But I only thought it was OK. Probably hundreds of years ago I would feel different.

I guess the translation was good but I was still lost at times. A lot of people and events were listed but my lackluster of knowledge of Italian history is negligible. a lot of the levels and many of the punishments seemed backward. Basically rape and murder wasn’t considered nearly as bad as any crime against the church. I was bored with it and eager for it to end. So I’m not criticizing the work. It just didn’t interest me and I disagreed with too much.

Ok, I see your point: you do need a guide. Any Italian would need one too, that's why we take 3 entire years to teach it to kids.
As for the cultural shift, well, it goes with the package. You cannot possiblt think that people 800 years ago thought the same way we did. Don't you think it's interesting to see the world like they did? I think it is healthy thing too. It helps to accept relativism. For one, its very likely that 800 years from now people are going to look at us with the same horror-fascination that we see Dante's times...

BTW Dante didn't even think that all that the Church hold as true was 'fair'. And some of the people who are in Hell are in fact his own heroes, Ulysses being the most conspicous. I am sorry I can't direct you to a good guide of the Inferno. Vittorio Sermonti did a terrific job (it was a radio show, and it reads like a chat wit ha friend) but that I know of, it's only available in Italian...

G.

 

[Travis]

I finished Traitor's Blade about a week ago (and forgot to post anything).
All in all, it was a solid little book. Its greatest drawback in my opinion, was a muddled middle that dragged far too long, but it didn't detract too much from the book for me. I particularly liked the flashbacks throughout the book. I felt that they were handled well and placed correctly within the larger story. I did figure out the "twist/revelation" around the middle to late-middle part of the book, but I liked it enough that it didn't bother me, in fact, I was happy that the author left enough little hints to figure it out before our protagonist could.
I went back and forth on our narrator/protagonist - I've not ready too many first person books where the protagonist addresses the reader directly and it was at times jarring, but ultimately had the right affect that the author was, I think, going for. I'd rate the book an 8-8.5/10. I'm definitely going to be continuing this series but I think I'm going to read each installment in between other series.

Currently I'm reading Red Rising (yes, I never got to it before now); and wow, so far I'm impressed. The first chapters were a bit of a struggle to get into due to the weird way the author has of combining different words together to make them "sci-fi" sounding. But after 100 pages, that doesn't bother me very much anymore. To me, its akin to a kind of 1984-light in space; and I'm really excited to see where it goes.

 

[Cyphon]

Just finished The Fiend and the Forge by Henry H. Neff. Third book in The Tapestry series. Par for the course in a good series and one I will continue to recommend for those looking for a good YA series if you haven't already read it. More major blows to the MC and one particular moment that had me a little teary eyed if I am being honest.

One thing I don't think I mentioned is that I have only ever read up to book 4 because 5 was never released in hard copy because of missed deadlines. No audiobook either. So with the third one down and the 4th upcoming I am really looking forward to finally biting the bullet and buying the digital copy to see how it all ends. It drives me up a wall to pay for it because I never read anything that way so I will probably be paying full price for a 1 time rental. Of course now he has revisited the series and there is a 6th book out that I already bought and that will be another thing driving me crazy. Having copies of books 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 with no possible way to fill in the missing piece.

Anyway, I would rate The Fiend and the Forge an 8-8.5/10

 

[GiovanniDeFeo]

By the by, I just finished FIRE AND HEMLOCK by Wynne Jones, and I am awe struck by the talent this woman has. The way the fantastic seeps trough the narration is as subtle as Henry James could have pulled it off, with a much simpler language of course, but not in a simple way at all. Being a writer, I know how hard it is to do what she did. Well done Diana!

 

[paul james]

Just started House of Chains. Fascinating so far. Was Karsa in Deadhouse Gates?

 

[ExTended]

Finished with some books lately.

Master Assassins by Robert V. S. Redick - a debut 2018 fantasy book for this author with one of the big six. Not bad, maybe close to a 7/10 book. Desert/Arabic setting telling the story of two brothers who are forced to desert their Holy Army and rn for their lives. Some nice flashbacks also, although I've began the book after a very hyped reddit review and the story fell short of the hype, but was above average as the debut book it is.

Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft - the sequel of Senlin Ascends. A decent book, but it lacked direction, coflict and resolution. It's as middle in a series a book as one gets. The narration was top notch though, so I cannot really complain - I'd totally recommend the audiobook for maximum immersion and enjoyment of that particular series.

Scythe and Thunderhead by Neil Shusterman - young adult fantasy/sci-fi belnd kind of story where humanity is living its ultimate utopia, going as far as to conquer death... but since Earth has limited resources even in a perfect world some people still have to die and that where Scythes come - they profession revolves around deciding who to love and who to die, permanently. The main protagonists are training to become Scythes and some unpleasantness happens, of course. The first book is quite solid when it comes to story-telling and enjoyment factor. The second one... goes nowhere. Same as with Senlin Ascends - the story just stops for a book. Still - it's one of the more enjoyable young-adult stories out there, one of its main strengths being that the romance aspects in the story are kept to a perfect minimum.

The Dragon Path by Daniel Abraham - this was a re-read for me. It totally reminded me of why I did enjoy this series so much the first time around. This series could boast with impeccable cast of diverse, unique and believe-able characters, among many other ver well done things, including but not limiting themselves to world-building, tone and over-all quality of the separate books in the series.

 

[Khartun]

Just started House of Chains. Fascinating so far. Was Karsa in Deadhouse Gates?

Yes but they don't call him by name as I recall. He is the Toblakai with Leoman.

 

[Silvion Night]

Yes but they don't call him by name as I recall. He is the Toblakai with Leoman.

This is correct!

 

[Derk of Derkholm]

OK. It’s back on my TBR. Sorry about the spoilers.

No issue, hehe, have read them all by now. Nice, and cheerful reading.

The Napoleonic Wars - with dragons!